Discover how virtual accounts help enterprise platforms collect funds locally across key markets, reduce reconciliation complexity, and manage multi-currency payments.
Virtual accounts, also known as virtual IBANs, help platforms manage the growing complexity of cross-border payments, especially when serving a large and international user base. Widely recognised for simplifying reconciliation and improving visibility over multi-party flows, these accounts serve another important role: they enable platforms to sell in markets that matter most to their business.
This article looks at how multi-currency account coverage helps platforms collect funds across markets without multiplying banking relationships, while reducing reconciliation complexity as volumes grow.
Why virtual accounts matter for enterprise platforms
Platforms managing large volumes of transactions face two constant pressures: keeping financial operations under control and delivering a payment experience that feels local to users. Virtual accounts address both.
Operational benefits
For finance and treasury teams, virtual accounts simplify how money is collected and managed across markets. Platforms can generate local account details in multiple currencies without opening bank accounts in each country. Payments and settlements are received directly into dedicated virtual accounts and automatically matched to the correct user.
User experience benefits
Local account details increase trust and improve payment acceptance, as payers are more likely to complete a transfer when paying into an IBAN from their home country. They benefit from a localized, personalised financial experience, while the platform retains control of the infrastructure.
At Mangopay, virtual accounts are issued in the end-user’s name, enabling compliant, user-level fund movements and reducing payment rejections caused by de-risking policies or AML filters, which are common in regulated or sensitive sectors, such as crypto.
How virtual accounts work
A virtual account works like a regular bank account. In the Mangopay ecosystem, we enable platforms to create virtual IBANs attached to a wallet. Each virtual account is linked to a specific user or transaction. When funds arrive, they are automatically assigned to the right wallet, simplifying reconciliation and giving platforms a clear view of their flows.
We support two main models:
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collection accounts, where the platform creates a dedicated virtual account to receive payments.
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user-owned, where each user has their own account linked directly to their wallet, allowing them to receive funds that are available for transfer or withdrawal, subject to identity verification before payout.
A local presence across key markets
At Mangopay, these accounts are the bridge between our wallet-first payment infrastructure and the banking world. Our coverage reflects the markets where platforms actively operate and collect funds today. We provide virtual accounts via API across the eurozone, as well as in currencies such as GBP, USD, CAD, DKK, and more. What’s more, we support a wide range of other currencies on demand, extending collection capabilities beyond Europe into regions such as Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
Our infrastructure supports a wide range of currencies, including:
🇺🇸 USD
🇨🇦 CAD
🇬🇧 GBP
🇪🇺 EUR
🇫🇷 FR IBANs
🇪🇸 ES IBANs
...and many more
Beyond coverage, localisation also helps address IBAN discrimination, which is the practice of refusing a euro IBAN simply because it was issued in another European country. By providing local IBANs in key markets, platforms reduce the risk of rejected payments or direct debits based solely on the country where the account was opened.
How platforms use virtual accounts
Virtual accounts allow platforms to operate as if they had a banking presence in each market they serve. In practice, this can look like:
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An EU-based marketplace selling in the UK issues GBP virtual accounts to British buyers. Users pay into familiar domestic account details, even though the platform is headquartered in Germany.
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A Europe-based gig economy platform working with earners in the US assigns USD virtual accounts to those users. US clients can pay into familiar domestic account details via local bank transfers, while funds are automatically credited to each earner’s account.
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An investment platform onboarding clients across multiple EU markets assigns local IBANs to investors. Contributions are received through domestic banking rails and automatically allocated to the correct account.
Customer use cases
Below are a few examples of how our clients use virtual accounts to solve both operational and multi-currency collection challenges.
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ManoMano faced challenges in collecting and reconciling funds through direct settlements from a PSP they work with. By using GB virtual accounts, the platform streamlined how funds were received and distributed, giving the team more visibility over fund flows in the UK market.
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Malt needed a factoring workflow that would allow freelancers to receive funds in advance. By setting up dedicated collection virtual accounts for freelancers, Malt enabled faster access to funds and simplified internal processing.
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Paybyrd experienced reconciliation delays and operational friction. By transitioning to user-owned virtual accounts directly linked to partner wallets, Paybyrd reduced settlement delays and improved the accuracy of fund allocation. Payments are now automatically routed to the correct wallet as soon as they arrive.
Interested in issuing virtual accounts to your users? Contact us, and we’ll show you how you can make it happen.
